Bryan Formhals (born October 18, 1976) is an American photographer and editor, based in New York City. He co-edited the book ''Photographers' Sketchbooks'' (2014).

Life and work

Formhals was born in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stea ...

. He earned a degree in communication and journalism at nearby

Saint John's University St John's University may refer to: * St. John's University (New York City) **St. John's University School of Law ** St. John's University (Italy) - Overseas Campus *College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, St. Joseph, Minnesota and C ...

, Collegeville in 1999. He moved to

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

and got a job working for a web company, transferring west to

Santa Monica Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to ...

, Los Angeles County, California in 2004. In LA he took a class at

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

doing

improvisational comedy Improvisational theatre, often called improvisation or improv, is the form of theatre, often comedy, in which most or all of what is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form, the dialogue, a ...

and wrote a screenplay. In 2005, unhappy with his screenplay and experiencing

writer's block Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author is either unable to produce new work or experiences a creative slowdown. Mike Rose found that this creative stall is not a result of commitment problems or th ...

, he began taking photographs while walking around

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywoo ...

and Downtown Los Angeles. This resulted in the series ''Genesee Ave.'' In 2009 he moved east to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, first to

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn ...

and then in 2012 to

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast, ...

. In 2010 ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San Fran ...

'' highlighted Formhals as one of its "Favorite Photobloggers" for his blog ''La Pura Vida.'' He founded and was managing editor of ''LPV Magazine,'' curating documentary and

fine-art photography Fine-art photography is photography created in line with the vision of the photographer as artist, using photography as a medium for creative expression. The goal of fine-art photography is to express an idea, a message, or an emotion. This stand ...

in print for 7 issues between 2011 and 2013 and on the web. ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...

'' included Formhals' ''LPV Magazine'' Twitter feed in its "140 Best Twitter Feeds of 2013". In 2015/2016 he was host and co-creator, with Tom Starkweather and Eddy Vallante, of The LPV Show, a conversational

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosing ...

about photography books. LPV Show guests included Khalik Allah,

Mathieu Asselin Mathieu Asselin (born 25 June 1973) is a French-Venezuelan photographer artist specializing in documentary photography and portraiture related to social issues. He is based in New York City. In 2017 his book ''Monsanto: A Photographic Investigati ...

Richard Bram Richard Bram (born 1952) is an American street photographer. He is based in London and was a member of the In-Public street photography collective. Bram has published two books of candid public photographs: ''Street Photography'' (2006), a compact ...

Noah Kalina Noah Kalina (born July 4, 1980) is an American art photographer. Much of Kalina's work focuses on the passage of time including his well-known project ''Everyday'' which shows the aging of a human. His photographs have appeared in ''The New York ...

Susan Meiselas Susan Meiselas (born June 21, 1948) is an American documentary photographer. She has been associated with Magnum Photos since 1976 and been a full member since 1980. Currently she is the President of the Magnum Foundation. She is best known for ...

, Greg Miller, Elle Pérez, Gus Powell, Ken Schles and Rachel Sussman. In 2014, Formhals and Stephen McLaren co-edited ''Photographers' Sketchbooks,'' described in ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publishe ...

'' as a "meticulously researched book

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

offers a fascinating insight into the work and methods of more than 50 photographers." Formhals is currently focused on "walking, pedestrian infrastructure, and urban greenery" in New York City through photography, a weekly newsletter, and a conversational podcast made with Starkweather called ''Way of the Walk.'' He has earned a living as content strategist and managing the social media team at B&H Photo, and as senior content marketing manager at

Shutterstock Shutterstock is an American provider of stock photography, stock footage, stock music, and editing tools; it is headquartered in New York. Founded in 2003 by programmer and photographer Jon Oringer, Shutterstock maintains a library of around 2 ...

and Adorama.

Publications edited by Formhals

*''Photographers' Sketchbooks.'' New York:

Thames & Hudson Thames & Hudson (sometimes T&H for brevity) is a publisher of illustrated books in all visually creative categories: art, architecture, design, photography, fashion, film, and the performing arts. It also publishes books on archaeology, history, ...

, 2014. Co-edited and with essays by Formhals and Stephen McLaren. .

Exhibitions

*''Common Ground: New American Street Photography,'' New Orleans Photo Alliance Gallery, New Orleans, February–March 2013; drkrm, Los Angeles, July 2013. Curated by Stephen McLaren. With work by

Blake Andrews Blake Andrews (29 December 1968) is an American street photographer and blogger based in Eugene, Oregon. Andrews was a member of the In-Public street photography collective. Life and work Andrews was born in Berkeley and grew up in Briceland, ...

, Formhals, Chuck Patch and Jack Simon.

References

External links

*
"Q & A with Bryan Formhals"
by

Photographs made by Formhals in Brooklyn, New York
at ''Booooooom'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Formhals, Bryan 21st-century American photographers Artists from Minnesota People from St. Cloud, Minnesota Living people 1976 births American podcasters Photography curators